Operators from across London’s pub, bar and hospitality sector have welcomed a new initiative from the mayor of London.
The Mayor of London has today announced that the pioneering three-month trial of Off-peak travel on Fridays is live, as he makes the call to Londoners: “Let’s do Fridays”. From today, Tube and rail fares on pay as you go with contactless and Oyster will be off-peak all day on Fridays until the end of May.
The trial follows the announcement that the Mayor has again frozen TfL fares until March 2025, which is providing more support to Londoners struggling with the cost of living, and aiding London’s recovery from the pandemic.
London & Partners, London’s business growth and destination agency, has created a new webpage – https://www.visitlondon.com/fridays – where Londoners can see a range of offers from restaurants, museums, theatres and landmark attractions available on Fridays during the trial, to encourage Londoners back into the city. More exclusive offers will be announced as the trial progresses, with different offers each Friday of the trial.
Amy Lamé, London’s Night Czar, said: “Friday night has always been a great night to enjoy our capital’s diverse nightlife, but we know the industry is facing huge challenges due to the ongoing impact of the pandemic, increased development, rising rents and business rates, staffing shortages due to Brexit, and the Government’s cost-of-living and cost-of-doing-business crisis. We’re committed to doing all we can to support our hospitality industry, and I’ve no doubt our Let’s do Fridays initiative will encourage even more people to come into London during the day and then stay on to make the most of everything our capital has to offer at night.”
TfL and London & Partners have also been working with local businesses across London and key stakeholders to help promote a range of activities to further encourage people to make the most of their Fridays.
To fund the trial, £24m has been allocated from the Mayor of London’s recently approved budget, which will be used to compensate TfL and rail operators for lower fares revenue during the trial and cover the costs for running it.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan said: “Off-peak Fridays are here. I’m delighted that this ground-breaking trial is now up and running and that there will also be special hospitality, business and entertainment deals taking place on Fridays.
“It’s clear that many people are still not coming into the office on Fridays compared to before the pandemic, which is having a major knock-on effect on our shops, restaurants, pubs and cultural venues. So as well as freezing fares for another year, we’re introducing this off-peak trial to get more Londoners back to the office on Fridays and to support the hospitality, culture and retail sectors as we continue building a better more prosperous London for everyone.”
Simon Champion, CEO at Boxpark Ltd, said: “We are delighted that the Mayor is introducing the Off Peak Fridays initiative. London’s hospitality sector is what makes London such an exciting and vibrant city and Friday nights are the lifeblood of London’s night time economy. We love that coming out to visit us has just become that much easier and we very much look forward to working with the Mayor and the Night Czar on all future projects to keep London as a world class night time city.”
